I just upgraded the DRAM on my Vostro 1700 from 3gB to 6 gB. Here are some notes on the upgrade:
1. The Vostro 1700 supports two DRAM modules. One of these can only be accessed by removing the keyboard, which isn't especially difficult, but requires removal and re-installation of a front panel, that has to be pried off, and the keyboard, held by several screws. The other module is easily accessible from the rear panel with only one screw to undo.
2. The RAM used in my Vostro 1700 is a SO-DIMM, DDR2, 200-pin, 667 mHz. Be careful when buying new RAM for your Vostro: DDR2 SO-DIMMS with 200 pins are also available in 800 mHz. They look identical to the 667mHz ones, but I would notassume that you can mix them, and I wouldn't assume that an 800 mHz module would even work at all, if your Vostro's motherboard, chipset, and BIOS were designed for 667 mHz SO-DIMMS.
3. The largest 667 mHz DD2 SO-DIMMS that are available are 4 gB. DDR2 is now "ancient" technology, and all new laptops have been DDR4 for several years; DDR2 SO-DIMM memory is now hard to find, and I would suspect that it'll disappear completely in the near future as older laptops die one by one and demand for obsolete parts for them dries up.
4. I updated the BIOS in my Vostro from A02 to A07, which appears to be the final version that Dell published, back in 2010.
5. I have read on a non-Dell Vostro 1700 blog, that an owner tried to upgrade his Vostro 1700 with two 4 gB SO-DIMMS (667 mHz, made by Samsung), and the A07 BIOS would not recognize both of them. He was able to get the BIOS to accept one 2 gB module in the #2 DRAM slot (the one under the keyboard), and one 4 gB module in the #1 slot (under the rear-panel hatch), for a total of 6 gB. I have duplicated this configuration in my Vostro 1700 and it works. The 2gB module in the #2 slot is the OEM one installed by Dell when the machine was built. The new 4gB module I installed was made by Crucial, and purchased from Newegg from some vendor in New Jersey for $43. I don't want to risk another $43 for a second one with no assurance that it will work, so I think I'll leave it at 6gB. The machine's working, better leave well enough alone, unless I can get some confirmation that the chipset and BIOS will in fact support 8 gB.
6. The laptop seems to be a little slower and less responsive than it was with 3 gB of DRAM. I find this surprising and counter-intutive. But I can now load 100+megapixel images into PhotoShop CS6 that the machine could not load at all with only 3 gB of RAM, so at least the memory upgrade fixed that problem.
7. I also upgraded the storage: there is one SeaGate 500gB HDD, with Windows 7 Ultimate and all of the software on it in Drive Bay #1, and a 2tB, 5400 rpm Toshiba HDD in the #2 drive bay for data.
8. The A07 BIOS, which is the final one provided by Dell for the Vostro 1700, has no native support for UEFI, ("Unified Extensible Firmware Interface"), and therefore, no support for GPT partition tables. So the Vostro 1700 is limited by it's firmware to MBR type HDD partitions, and these can be no larger than 2 tB. The hardware does support 64-bit operating systems, so you can use 64-bit versions of Windows or Linux, but as far as I can tell, support for GPT partition tables has to be present in the BIOS as well as the OS, and there is no way I know of to add this if the manufacturer's BIOS doesn't include it.
9. There have been some posts on the Vostro 1700 from people looking to upgrade the CPU, but I don't think the limited cooling fan capacity of this laptop would adequately accommodate a higher-performance CPU, even if you could find one that would work on a motherboard made in 2007. As it is, the Vostro 1700 gets pretty warm when processing video. And you have to ask yourself: is it really worth upgrading a 13 year old laptop, beyond the $100 I paid for the 4gB RAM and a 2tb HDD? A new 17" XPS laptop can be had for about the price of a top of the line cell phone ($1200), that would run rings around this old Vostro. You just wouldn't get an internal optical drive, a PCMCIA card slot, or a FireWire port, on a new machine. But the video screens are 4K, with at least 1 HDMI port, and the machine would be delivered with Windows 10 or 11, instead of being limited to Windows 7, an OS that's already 2 years past EOL.
You can go to 4 GB total but on a system that is getting quite old now, I would not recommend putting much money toward upgrades that will do very little to no improvement in operation.
I'll tell you something else about our laptop. Vostro 1700 works fine on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. One crucial critical place was the video card. But the gods have agreed with NVIDIA, and they have made a wonderful fresh support for NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600M GT, download on the official website. For many years I have been working with an external display on 1920, and now on a dozen, but so far on 4GB of memory. On your advice, I will try to put 6. Also don't forget to swap your hard drive for an SSD, but be careful. When you clone your system on it, before turning on the computer, tie yourself to a chair to avoid injury. And the last. When there are no HDD connected and you improve air access to the ventilation area, the fan will stop rotating. Don't let it bother you. Success
Has anyone replaced the Seagate HDD in the Vostro 1700 with a SSD drive? The Seagate drive has a row of individual pins while my Crucial SSD has pins embedded in a plastic strip so there is no way for the SSD drive to connect to the corresponding connector in the HDD cradle. Is there an adapter which solves this problem?
I upgraded my Vostro 1700s using the T series of processors from Intel for the Core 2 Duos. These are a low power alternative that work well. The T9500, T9600, and T9700 are the ones I'm using. I tried some of the more extreme heavier processors and they do get too hot- as the 9900s!
The T-processors work just find for the CPU. The separate graphics processor are likely the main issue especially with the Nvidia processors for heat. I also found a bug in some earlier Microsoft power saving features that would keep these processor running at 100% power. Reducing this to 99% caused all to cool quickly. I've not had this "stuck throttle" issue under windows 10.
It is always a good practice to redo the thermal past and pads at least every 2 years. I also used copper shims on my Nvidia processor to pull heat away even faster. It gets a bit hotter (air blowing out) because it is more efficient at removing the heat. Internally there is up to a 10C difference under the same activity.
I've made quite a bit of hardware upgrades to mine especially USB 3.0 with the PCIMIA ports.
I've also upgraded the wireless module to the Intel AX210 and its able to easily do 500 mb/s wireless easily over a 1GB/s internet.
I have had no real issues running Windows 10 and programs as O&O's Shutup10++ will allow you to reconfigure to squeeze out every CPU cycle and stop much of the background processes and unneeded telemetry spyware.
The Vostro 1700 can also take more than one wireless card -especially useful for dual boot systems that may not have access to modern drivers. 2TB SSDs makes all the difference in performance and its a perfect net surfer and video watcher.
Regarding the memory limitation. 6GB is the practical limit. I am sure this is due to all the memory mapped I/O features in the Vostro 1700. I tried two 4MB modules but could never get the system to even boot with my current configuration. I was stuck using a 2GB and a 4GB module. Ive seen no slowdown. Just make sure the two modules are the same clock speed and have other similar speed features.
@Laura-Ann This is a great post. Thank you for taking the time to answer. I noticed the RAM door and I thought the other RAM was, somehow, soldered to the Mainboard. Now I will open this old monster to make it 4GB. Right now is just 3GB and it's not practical.
Laura-Ann
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October 31st, 2021 15:00
I just upgraded the DRAM on my Vostro 1700 from 3gB to 6 gB. Here are some notes on the upgrade:
1. The Vostro 1700 supports two DRAM modules. One of these can only be accessed by removing the keyboard, which isn't especially difficult, but requires removal and re-installation of a front panel, that has to be pried off, and the keyboard, held by several screws. The other module is easily accessible from the rear panel with only one screw to undo.
2. The RAM used in my Vostro 1700 is a SO-DIMM, DDR2, 200-pin, 667 mHz. Be careful when buying new RAM for your Vostro: DDR2 SO-DIMMS with 200 pins are also available in 800 mHz. They look identical to the 667mHz ones, but I would not assume that you can mix them, and I wouldn't assume that an 800 mHz module would even work at all, if your Vostro's motherboard, chipset, and BIOS were designed for 667 mHz SO-DIMMS.
3. The largest 667 mHz DD2 SO-DIMMS that are available are 4 gB. DDR2 is now "ancient" technology, and all new laptops have been DDR4 for several years; DDR2 SO-DIMM memory is now hard to find, and I would suspect that it'll disappear completely in the near future as older laptops die one by one and demand for obsolete parts for them dries up.
4. I updated the BIOS in my Vostro from A02 to A07, which appears to be the final version that Dell published, back in 2010.
5. I have read on a non-Dell Vostro 1700 blog, that an owner tried to upgrade his Vostro 1700 with two 4 gB SO-DIMMS (667 mHz, made by Samsung), and the A07 BIOS would not recognize both of them. He was able to get the BIOS to accept one 2 gB module in the #2 DRAM slot (the one under the keyboard), and one 4 gB module in the #1 slot (under the rear-panel hatch), for a total of 6 gB. I have duplicated this configuration in my Vostro 1700 and it works. The 2gB module in the #2 slot is the OEM one installed by Dell when the machine was built. The new 4gB module I installed was made by Crucial, and purchased from Newegg from some vendor in New Jersey for $43. I don't want to risk another $43 for a second one with no assurance that it will work, so I think I'll leave it at 6gB. The machine's working, better leave well enough alone, unless I can get some confirmation that the chipset and BIOS will in fact support 8 gB.
6. The laptop seems to be a little slower and less responsive than it was with 3 gB of DRAM. I find this surprising and counter-intutive. But I can now load 100+megapixel images into PhotoShop CS6 that the machine could not load at all with only 3 gB of RAM, so at least the memory upgrade fixed that problem.
7. I also upgraded the storage: there is one SeaGate 500gB HDD, with Windows 7 Ultimate and all of the software on it in Drive Bay #1, and a 2tB, 5400 rpm Toshiba HDD in the #2 drive bay for data.
8. The A07 BIOS, which is the final one provided by Dell for the Vostro 1700, has no native support for UEFI, ("Unified Extensible Firmware Interface"), and therefore, no support for GPT partition tables. So the Vostro 1700 is limited by it's firmware to MBR type HDD partitions, and these can be no larger than 2 tB. The hardware does support 64-bit operating systems, so you can use 64-bit versions of Windows or Linux, but as far as I can tell, support for GPT partition tables has to be present in the BIOS as well as the OS, and there is no way I know of to add this if the manufacturer's BIOS doesn't include it.
9. There have been some posts on the Vostro 1700 from people looking to upgrade the CPU, but I don't think the limited cooling fan capacity of this laptop would adequately accommodate a higher-performance CPU, even if you could find one that would work on a motherboard made in 2007. As it is, the Vostro 1700 gets pretty warm when processing video. And you have to ask yourself: is it really worth upgrading a 13 year old laptop, beyond the $100 I paid for the 4gB RAM and a 2tb HDD? A new 17" XPS laptop can be had for about the price of a top of the line cell phone ($1200), that would run rings around this old Vostro. You just wouldn't get an internal optical drive, a PCMCIA card slot, or a FireWire port, on a new machine. But the video screens are 4K, with at least 1 HDMI port, and the machine would be delivered with Windows 10 or 11, instead of being limited to Windows 7, an OS that's already 2 years past EOL.
JOcean
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12.6K Posts
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June 30th, 2021 20:00
You can go to 4 GB total but on a system that is getting quite old now, I would not recommend putting much money toward upgrades that will do very little to no improvement in operation.
JOcean
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12.6K Posts
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October 31st, 2021 16:00
Thanks for the detailed reply. That was an excellent source of information for the OP. Well done!
Mish
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January 15th, 2022 00:00
I'll tell you something else about our laptop. Vostro 1700 works fine on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. One crucial critical place was the video card. But the gods have agreed with NVIDIA, and they have made a wonderful fresh support for NVIDIA GEFORCE 8600M GT, download on the official website. For many years I have been working with an external display on 1920, and now on a dozen, but so far on 4GB of memory. On your advice, I will try to put 6.
Also don't forget to swap your hard drive for an SSD, but be careful. When you clone your system on it, before turning on the computer, tie yourself to a chair to avoid injury.
And the last. When there are no HDD connected and you improve air access to the ventilation area, the fan will stop rotating. Don't let it bother you.
Success
phebas
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November 15th, 2024 17:22
Has anyone replaced the Seagate HDD in the Vostro 1700 with a SSD drive? The Seagate drive has a row of individual pins while my Crucial SSD has pins embedded in a plastic strip so there is no way for the SSD drive to connect to the corresponding connector in the HDD cradle. Is there an adapter which solves this problem?
disco75902
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March 31st, 2025 14:18
@phebas I have 2 that I swap between on with Win7 and other has Win10. Win7 has all my old stuff and setup on it and runs just as fast as 10.
Disco
VirtualKahuna
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October 31st, 2025 17:08
@Laura-Ann
Excellent Post
I upgraded my Vostro 1700s using the T series of processors from Intel for the Core 2 Duos. These are a low power alternative that work well. The T9500, T9600, and T9700 are the ones I'm using. I tried some of the more extreme heavier processors and they do get too hot- as the 9900s!
The T-processors work just find for the CPU. The separate graphics processor are likely the main issue especially with the Nvidia processors for heat. I also found a bug in some earlier Microsoft power saving features that would keep these processor running at 100% power. Reducing this to 99% caused all to cool quickly. I've not had this "stuck throttle" issue under windows 10.
It is always a good practice to redo the thermal past and pads at least every 2 years. I also used copper shims on my Nvidia processor to pull heat away even faster. It gets a bit hotter (air blowing out) because it is more efficient at removing the heat. Internally there is up to a 10C difference under the same activity.
I've made quite a bit of hardware upgrades to mine especially USB 3.0 with the PCIMIA ports.
I've also upgraded the wireless module to the Intel AX210 and its able to easily do 500 mb/s wireless easily over a 1GB/s internet.
I have had no real issues running Windows 10 and programs as O&O's Shutup10++ will allow you to reconfigure to squeeze out every CPU cycle and stop much of the background processes and unneeded telemetry spyware.
The Vostro 1700 can also take more than one wireless card -especially useful for dual boot systems that may not have access to modern drivers. 2TB SSDs makes all the difference in performance and its a perfect net surfer and video watcher.
Regarding the memory limitation. 6GB is the practical limit. I am sure this is due to all the memory mapped I/O features in the Vostro 1700. I tried two 4MB modules but could never get the system to even boot with my current configuration. I was stuck using a 2GB and a 4GB module. Ive seen no slowdown. Just make sure the two modules are the same clock speed and have other similar speed features.
R Athie U
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February 8th, 2026 15:27
@Laura-Ann This is a great post. Thank you for taking the time to answer. I noticed the RAM door and I thought the other RAM was, somehow, soldered to the Mainboard. Now I will open this old monster to make it 4GB. Right now is just 3GB and it's not practical.